Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador is set to expire on Sept. 9, 2026, a deadline that will profoundly affect the lives and businesses of not only these legal workers and their American citizen children, but also thousands of employers across America.
It is true that Salvadorans no longer need protection from the grotesque criminal gangs that once threatened their lives in their homeland. Anyone who has visited El Salvador recently has seen that the government of President Nayib Bukele has begun a miraculous transformation of El Salvador, which for over 50 years experienced systemic injustice from repressive governments, guerrilla movements, civil war, rampant criminal gangs, and other threats. El Salvador now ranks among the safest nations in the world, and it will need the talents and labor of every citizen to build a prosperous, innovative economy in the years to come. The new El Salvador under the rule of law will succeed in establishing un estado de derecho, a Spanish term that denotes America’s most attractive asset, but a seemingly impossible dream for most Latin American nations – a state of democracy, justice, civil and human rights, effective government, and the rule of law.
Nations throughout Latin America are looking to El Salvador as a possible Central American Singapore, which they will seek to emulate, and those of us who love the country want to do everything possible to see economic development and prosperity follow on the heels of security and democracy. The national security interests of the United States and the whole region argue for maximum effort to ensure the success of President Bukele’s plan for national development.
The Trump administration does not necessarily err in repatriating Salvadorans to be part of building a new age of progress in their country, although their departure from the United States will have a negative impact on our country. Salvadorans have earned a reputation for diligence and a strong work ethic, and they have long counted among the immigrants most likely to succeed. America will feel the loss of erstwhile Salvadoran TPS holders, and we can only hope that their American-citizen children, forced now to sacrifice their civil birthrights to keep their families intact, will return to America in the future. No one objects to deporting the criminals, but we will sorely miss the contributors.
If Temporary Protective Status must end, let it end in an orderly, business-friendly, and compassionate way that minimizes damage to the well-being of immigrant worker families and to the businesses they have served. The Trump administration could do itself, and America as a whole, a great favor in extending the work permits of Salvadoran TPS holders for another year, giving them and their employers time to plan an orderly transition.
The recent American military departure from Afghanistan under President Biden’s watch tragically proved that a good decision can be spoiled by undue haste and a lack of planning. We do not want to hurt American business while also inflicting an unnecessarily chaotic, dare I say “Bidenesque” departure on Salvadoran immigrants. A decision to delay the deadline for departure will also have a positive electoral effect among Hispanic conservatives.
Perhaps the best decision would be to offer a path to citizenship for law-abiding workers from El Salvador who have enjoyed TPS status. They are not “illegal aliens,” but rather, people who have lived and worked here legally for many years. Nevertheless, the Trump administration has already committed to revoking their legal presence, and the United States Supreme Court has confirmed its authority to do so. Speaking on behalf of all Americans who appreciate the contributions of Salvadoran immigrants and prefer business-friendly, market-oriented, and deliberate economic decisions, I urge the administration to postpone the end of TPS status for Salvadoran immigrants for one year.
